Mad Mike
Well-known member
I came across a must have for long drives, what stuff do you use when hitting the long road?
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Useful driving/riding aids
- Thread starter Mad Mike
- Start date
Haha yes! Always need one of those!
Once COVID hit each car and the motorcycle got a ziploc bag with TP.
You never know….
A friend put an aftermarket steering wheel wrap on his car and after a few years it got looking shabby. Drivine along he decided to unlace it.
Then came a curve in the road..... It got caught on the turn siganal and it was either the turn signal or wrecking the car.
Fortunately it was an older car with a simple turn signal. A do-everything stalk would really hurt $$$.
Not a BMW.
If mine's there, then it's upside down so that I can't look at it.
Someone was flogging a holder that sat in a cup holder and would telescope up to eye level for your viewing pleasure.
Someone was flogging a holder that sat in a cup holder and would telescope up to eye level for your viewing pleasure.
I don't like that. When I see someone staring at their crotch I KNOW they're emailing/texting/Twittioting. Too much guesswork with a telescopic thingie putting their phone at eye level.
Agreed. Just a image I found to illustrate my point, I'm the same, I keep it out of sight. It is surprisingly unsurprising how many people still use their phones while driving.
The part that bothers me is that if a person can drive with a chocolate bar in one hand they can drive with a transistor stuffed piece of plastic in their hand.
The big problem is mental distraction. IMO there's little wrong with a quick phone call of a few seconds to say "I'm going to be a few minutes late." or "If you need something from the grocery store, text me a list and I'll read it when I get to the store." Bring back analogue at $1.00 a minute and listen to the silence.
Texting is another matter. The new laws have people with the phone at crotch level instead of top of the steering wheel. It's worse. At least link the cell phone to the four way flashers of the car. "Lookee here. I'm texting"
I strongly disagree. It's distracting enough just to try and plug the thing in to charge it, nevermind trying to dial a number. Use voice dial, and even that's too distracting depending on the emotion involved in the call.
I still scratch my head that dialing a phone is illegal but car manufacturers put 20 buttons on the steering wheel, multiple screens of information mostly unrelated to driving and controls required for driving menus deep on a touchscreen and that is completely ok.
The best demonstration of human inability to simultaneously process language and spatial tasks that I ever saw in person was with a group of coworkers. We were walking through our building, and two of them were in deep technical conversation with each other. We got to a revolving security door that requires you to badge through and one of them sort of stopped in confusion, held up their badge in the air and literally made the "Um, ah... guh?" sounds while they tried to figure out what to do with it. It took three or four seconds for their brain to reset from the conversation into how to operate the door.
My father wouldn't have a radio in the car for years and years, because it was a potential distraction.
I must be a horrible person then. Between work / kids / family obligations during the day, the commute is my best time to call and have a chat with my parents, or a cousin overseas.
Commute home - typically call a cousin in Poland just to catch up OR call mom / dad / sister to chat
Drive to cottage on my own - text my cousin in Australia to let him know I'm free for X hours so he can call
Otherwise it's off to the PODCAST world for me.
Commute home - typically call a cousin in Poland just to catch up OR call mom / dad / sister to chat
Drive to cottage on my own - text my cousin in Australia to let him know I'm free for X hours so he can call
Otherwise it's off to the PODCAST world for me.
Consider the brain like a multitasking computer. The more you commit resources to something the less are available for everything else. Then there is the risk for short periods of time that multitasking is not preemptive. We also need to consider lowest common denominator for laws and regulations.
Have you ever turned down the radio when driving and looking for an address or doing any detailed task at home? The yet bigger problem with cell phones is due to the lower sound quality and that you are usually actively listening and trying to understand they take more brain resources than just listening to the radio passively. Many studies on this, even hands free phone calls can approach or exceed 0.08 BAC impaired levels for the average person (the only upside is it is not constant like being drunk is). Talking to someone in the car could be the same if they mumbled etc. The issue is the laws are not practical for the cops to determine if you listening to the radio, talking to yourself or on the phone hands free.... BTW radio way too loud can cause the same issues, actively (not passively) listening too closely to a podcast.
Looking at the phone for any reason like to dial is even worse.
Next, how can they tell if you are texting or just holding the phone. So we get no holding the phone.... lowest common... No officer I was not texting I was dialing....
Buttons in the car tend not to be as bad if it is your car you know where they are and little brain resources or eye movement are require to use them. This touch screen and menu BS, well that is a problem for distraction just as bad as any phone... Sorting through a menu on the touch screen to adjust as an exmaple the heated seats on some cars, WTF!
Have you ever turned down the radio when driving and looking for an address or doing any detailed task at home? The yet bigger problem with cell phones is due to the lower sound quality and that you are usually actively listening and trying to understand they take more brain resources than just listening to the radio passively. Many studies on this, even hands free phone calls can approach or exceed 0.08 BAC impaired levels for the average person (the only upside is it is not constant like being drunk is). Talking to someone in the car could be the same if they mumbled etc. The issue is the laws are not practical for the cops to determine if you listening to the radio, talking to yourself or on the phone hands free.... BTW radio way too loud can cause the same issues, actively (not passively) listening too closely to a podcast.
Looking at the phone for any reason like to dial is even worse.
Next, how can they tell if you are texting or just holding the phone. So we get no holding the phone.... lowest common... No officer I was not texting I was dialing....
Buttons in the car tend not to be as bad if it is your car you know where they are and little brain resources or eye movement are require to use them. This touch screen and menu BS, well that is a problem for distraction just as bad as any phone... Sorting through a menu on the touch screen to adjust as an exmaple the heated seats on some cars, WTF!
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